Tragic news.
Sisters Victoria and Benedicte Myrset, aged 12 and 18, were killed by a lightning strike Sunday afternoon, while hiking on the Melshorn mountain in southern Norway.
A third sister, also hiking with the pair, was seriously injured in the incident and taken to hospital in the city of Bergen, where she is though to be in a stable condition, according to Norwegian authorities.
The girls, who were on holiday with their family when the accident happened, are originally from Oslo – the capital of Norway – and were just visiting the popular Hareid region for the summer.
According to Norwegian state broadcaster, NRK, the girls had set out for a hike on Melshorn mountain, a popular destination with both locals and visitors, when the bad weather and lightning storm occurred suddenly.
In a statement, Hareid mayor Bernt Brandal called it “a deeply tragic event” that no one could have predicted because the weather “changed tremendously fast”.
According to local news outlets in Norway, more than 800 lightning strikes were recorded in the area on Sunday afternoon and early evening.
